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Africa Green Industrialisation Initiative (AGII)
Context: The Africa Green Industrialisation Initiative (AGII), first launched at the COP28 climate summit and rooted in the 2023 Nairobi Declaration, has rapidly evolved from a proposal into a concrete action plan.
What is the Africa Green Industrialisation Initiative (AGII)?
The AGII is a multi-stakeholder strategic framework designed to advance green industrialisation and investments across the African continent. The initiative, hosted in Kenya, complements other programs like the Accelerated Partnership for Renewables in Africa (APRA). Its core objectives are:
- Financing Green Industries: To mobilise massive financial resources (targeting $100 billion) through public-private partnerships and blended finance to fund climate-smart industries.
- Leveraging Renewable Energy: To prioritise energy-intensive industries, creating a demand that triggers a virtuous cycle of renewable energy deployment (like solar and wind) and economic activity.
- Building Value Chains: To support new pan-African value chains in critical sectors such as green hydrogen (green fuels), critical mineral processing, and battery manufacturing, moving beyond raw material extraction.
- Policy Alignment: To align cross-border trade and industrial policies under the AfCFTA to facilitate intra-African trade for green goods and services.
- Institutional Collaboration: It brings together development finance institutions (e.g., Africa50), continental and commercial banks (e.g., KCB, Equity), and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to spearhead specific projects, such as the ¬$300 million energy transmission project in Kenya announced by Africa50.
What is its larger significance?
The AGII holds profound significance for Africa and the global climate effort:
- African Agency and Leadership: It marks a strategic shift where Africa is proactively charting its own climate and development course, moving from being a subject of global climate talks to a leader driving its own green transition.
- Bridging the Climate Finance Gap: Africa faces an annual climate financing gap of $200-$250 billion. The $100 billion mobilisation, led by the private sector, is one of the largest in Africa’s history and a critical step towards closing this gap.
- Economic Transformation: It aims to transform Africa’s economies by moving them up the value chain. Instead of exporting raw critical minerals, the goal is to process them locally into batteries and components, capturing more economic value and creating millions of jobs.
- Energy Security and Sustainable Development: By focusing on its abundant solar and renewable resources, AGII enhances Africa’s energy security, powers industrialisation, and drives sustainable development without relying on fossil fuels.
- Investment Magnet: The initiative serves as a powerful signal to global investors, positioning Africa as a destination for green investment and leveraging its vast untapped renewable energy potential.
